Rental has gone from your old standby’s (DVDs, cars for the weekend, etc.) to high fashion. Bag, Borrow, or Steal (Avelle) rents out high-end purses and accessories. Wear Today Gone Tomorrow offers designers dresses rentals at 5%-10% of their retail price.
And now a new business has come into the mix: Rent The Runway also offers consumers the opportunity to rent dresses at a fraction of what they would cost. A $3,000 dress by Christian Siriano (the 4th season winner of Project Runway) can be rented for about $200.
This is another sign of the transumer transformation – the idea that instead of pursuing an ownership model, consumers can pay for a leasing lifestyle instead. Rather than spending $1,000 on an evening gown that you only wear once, for example, you can rent the same gown for $100 for a night.
Renting luxury has become a way for people to (a) spend money on only when they want to use an item, (b) achieve a level of luxury that would be above their means if they had to own the product, and/or (c) introduce more variety into their wardrobe without the corresponding cash outlay.
It’s a good idea not to buy a dress that you won’t wear more than once, and renting a dress once would be cheaper than buying it. It can even be a “green” method – effectively hundreds of people would be “sharing” one dress. (Although then you get into the impact of shipping / dry-cleaning, etc., so I’m not sure what the net effect would be).
This rental model has existed before in wedding gowns and in men’s formal wear – but it’s only recently when renting regular lady’s formal wear has become an option. If gents can rent their tuxedos for a swanky gala, why can’t ladies rent an Oscar De La Renta or a Caroline Herrera?
Still, I would rather save and get a $500 dress that I really love then to spend $100 to rent a $1,000 dress 5 times. Despite it all, I suppose there are still elements of ownership, especially when it comes to personal items such as clothing and accessories, that appeal to me.
Would you rent your clothes for a party?
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
i totally would- esp for formal events.
Here's another similar example but more for men!
http://www.stealthetime.com
a friend of mine started it!
If you end up going to events with one group of people then it becomes difficult to wear your dress more than once. I like this model because a lot of evening dresses cost 200-300. If you can rent a dress for $100 instead then I would definitely take that option.
I definitely see how it can make sense… but still! I think I'd like to own.
I can imagine doing that if I had some super swanky event to attend and needed to impress. But I can't foresee that happening any time soon…
Wow…this is a brilliant idea!
Although, I agree with you–I would never ever use it. $200 to wear a dress once? Um, no way! I just don't care that much about labels, or the people that would judge me based on the maker of my clothes, to ever rent clothes for a swanky event. Plus I'd be so worried the whole time about spilling wine all over it.
I think this is great!
I'm a diplomat, and used to be a development worker, so we move A LOT. How great would it be not to have to move that stuff?? And you could have something fabulous every time?
I read this article on CNBC earlier this week. A friend of mine is working on a similar concept so I sent this link to her to show her potential competition. Her idea is to become the Fedex of tailored dresses. She would send a tailor to your house a week before the event, and have your dress two days later so that any alterations could be made before the event. Fast, and quick!
But concerning the article, I think it is a smart idea. I personally wear dresses about 2x a year and then send them to donations. Those dresses are usually less than $60 so I get my money worth. But to rent a DESIGNER dress for just one night and never have to think about it again, that's great. I think the biggest source of their income will not come from rental fees but the damage fees. Just like if you lose a Netflix DVD you are charged the full price of the DVD, they are going to make you pay for the dress if it is damaged. So, I think they are hedging their bets on that.
I'd feel weird about wearing a dress that several other women had worn before me. Also — and I apologize if this is impolite — I tend to sweat like a boy, so I'd feel sorry for the poor woman who had the dress after me, even with dry-cleaning.
I think it would be useful for someone in the fashion industry without a lot of cash, like an assistant, whose fashion choices at events are scrutinized, or if you run around with a crowd to whom stuff like that matters a lot. I'm not part of either, so I'll just take my H&M frocks and dress them up with heels, thankyouverymuch.
I think it makes sense for those who live a richer lifestyle. It's not really meant for everyday folks like us, but for the wealthier class of people who really ARE socially required to purchase $1k dresses, this is a great option.
If I had that kind of money I would probably do it this way too. Until then, I'll wait for the cheaper rentals!
But if you had that kind of money, you wouldn't really need to rent the dresses. You could afford the real ones!
I think this option is great for people who don't make enough to buy the gowns or people who make enough but are super frugal. The trick is that it's only really worth it if you're going to a huge formal event or if you attend a lot of formal events. For instance, my mother rented her wedding dress! At first, I thought that was skeevy. Now that I'm older, I think, "Hey, why would you pay $1,000 for a dress you're only going to wear once?"
Personally, if I was someone who was going to a ton of formal events, I wouldn't use this. I'd rather find a cheap knock-off for $200 than pay it to just borrow a dress. It doesn't seem like that great of a deal to me.
It's a really interesting idea – but I don't think I would pay to rent a dress, at least not at this point in time.
I'm totally down with the idea of renting clothes. Shoot I would be in heaven if my future wife wanted to rent her wedding dress. So much money is spent on a dress a woman wears for 10 hours and then it sits in a closet for the rest of her life, never to be worn again. I know it's for "the most important day of her life" but I still think it's a bunch of craziness.
That's interesting… I don't see myself spending a lot of money on a wedding gown, but I'd rather buy a $300 dress than rent a $4,000 dress for the same $300. I guess I'd still like my wedding gown to be "mine".
I think it would depend on the price, the event, etc. Certainly it'd be better than buying a fancy dress you'll never wear again. But if the price is too high, it seems smarter to just bite the bullet and get a nice formal dress for special occasions. At least then you're paying just the one time.
I would if it was for a big enough party and I couldn’t find anything to wear in my closet (or my usual price range). There’s a store in Chicago called Borrow A Dress Couture. They do this as well. Been meaning to check them out.
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